Since I have become a stay at home mumma and we have become a 1 income family owning and renovating our own home, we have started following a monthly budget. We like doing this as it means with renovating the house and having a young family we can make sure we aren’t overspending on things we don’t need to be. This is why I have a set way of planning our menu and shopping.

We like to shop at Lidl and Aldi as it is cheaper than the other big shops and it has most things we need. I also like to plan our dinners for the week so I know I have everything we will need and what I’m cooking for the week. By doing this it helps stop us ‘popping’ into the shops during the week for a top up.

I start by looking throw our pantry, fridge and freezer to see what we have in the house already. Once I’ve had a look I then plan dinners ensuring I am writing everything we need for each meal on the shopping list. 

menu
This weeks menu. 
shopping list.
Shopping List. 

I make sure I’ve written everything down, as I can then just stick to the list and not just pick things up we don’t really need. The only time I pick something up that’s not on the list is when I find a product we use on sale as it helps us save money in the bigger picture.

I also use the calculator app on my phone to add up the shopping bill as we are going around. We prefer doing this as it means we know exactly how much we are spending and it isn’t a huge shock when we get to the till. Also, by adding it up as you go round it also helps you actually look at the price of things and get the most for your money. 

We usually have 1 week out of the month that is more expensive than others as we need dog food, nappies, wipes, cleaning and hygiene products. We also try to only go to one shop as we have found it helps us stop buying things that catch our eye. We like to just go into one shop get what we need and go. 

Don’t get me wrong some weeks we do end up buying things that aren’t on the list and we don’t need. I’d be lying if I said we didn’t but we try to stick to our list to keep our shopping bill down because why spend loads of money on food when you can spend it on making memories with your family. 

There’s no right or wrong way to stop overspending on your shopping bill but this is how I have found works for us but I’m always looking for other ways to help us.